Manufacture of colored mesh fabric



Jan. 4, 1927. l 1,613,375

- R. H. BERKLr-:Y

MANUFACTURE oF coLoRED MEsH FABRIC -Fild June e, 1925 ATToRNEY CilPatented Jan., d, i927.

UNHTEL? SVFA'FJS RICHARD HATLEY BERKL'EY, OF PLANVLLE, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSGNOR TO WHIT- ING & DAVIES COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

IVIANUFACTURE 0F CLORED MESH FABRIC.

Application led June 6,

This invention relates to the production of metallic mesh fabric and hasto do more particularly with the provision of such a fabric which hasdesigns in color on its surface. The invention includes the method ofproducing the fabric, together with apparatus by which the method may beconveniently practiced.

Articles of jewelry, such as ladies hand bags, have heretofore b eenmade of link mesh fabric of a solid color, determined loy the kind ofmetal of which the wire used in making the links is formed. Recently,however, there has been a demand for multicolor mesh, in which links ofdifferent colors are arranged in the mesh according to a pattern ordesign. An example of such mesh is one having a back ground of links ofone color, through which extend stripes or hands of links of a differentcolor. Such patterned mesh is made on machines in which a plurality ofsupplies of wire are provided, depending in number on the numloer ofdifferent colors that are involved in the fabric, and the finishedproduct is therefore made up of links of different materials, some ofwhich are considerably more eX- pensive than others. Also, the range ofcolors in the finished product is limited by the different kinds of wireavailable.

The object of the present invention is to provide a method by which apatterned mesh may be produced in which all of the links of the fabricare made of the same kind of metal, these links being given anappropriate surface coloring to form the selected design. According tothe principles of the invention, the piece of plain mesh is subjected tothe action of coloring solutions which act on the metal of which thelinks are made and give these links the desired color. In order toproduct designs, selected areas of the mesh are masked or otherwiseprotected against the action of the solutions, and according to onemethod by which a simple pattern mesh is produced, in which selectedareas on the mesh are given a single color, the piece of mesh is placedbetween a pair of pattern plates or shields which are provided withyielding surfaces between which the piece of mesh is clamped. Theyielding` surfaces of these plates engage the links of the mesh closelyand all of the links which are thus engaged are protected from thesolution. The piece of mesh so masked is -illustrated one form ofapparatus by which 1925. SeriaI No. 35,432.

now immersed in the solution and those areas which are exposed will beattacked by the solutionI and given the appropriate color. Morecomplicated designs involving more than a single color may readily bemade by the use of appropriate pattern plates and solutions which willproduce the desired color effect on the metal.

In the accompanying drawings there is the method may be carried on, andin these drawings,

Fig. l is a face view of one of the pattern plates, Fig. plates them, Y

i Fig. 3 is an end view of the plates shown in Fig. 2, Y

Fig. l is an enlarged view of a piece of mesh, showing the outline ofone part of the pattern, and Y v Fig. 5 is an enlarged, sectional viewthrough the pattern plates, showing the piece of mesh held in position.80

. The link mesh fabric on which the design is to be formed may be of anystandard type, such, for instance, as the ordinary wire link fabric inwhichv each link is intermeshed with aplurality of other links in B5 thefabric, or else may be the so-called fishscale mesh, in which groups oflinks are held together by metal spiders. ln the drawings the piece ofmesh is of the` ordinary ring type, and the apparatus illustrated isdesigned for the production of a patterned fabric in which there arediamond shaped areas of one color in a field of a dierent color.

rlhe method now to be described is for the production of a piece ofpatterned mesh in which the main body of the piece of mesh is given afield color, while areas here shown as of diamond shape arranged inrows, are protectedl against the action of the solution which producesthe field color, and thus retain the origina] color of the metal ofwhich the links are made. ln carrying out such a process, the piece ofmesh is first thoroughly cleaned so as to remove all foreign matter, andthen is placed between a pair of pattern plates or shields 10 which mayhave any appropriate form, depending on the size and shape'of the pieceof mesh which is to be l treated. i

2 is a top plan view of a pair of with the mesh in position betweenlili) CTI Each of the plates 10 shown in Fig. 1 is of aluminum or someother material which will not be acted upon by the solutions. The platesare of similar size and extend slightly beyond the piece of mesh whichis the rectangle shown in dotted lines at 11. ln the projecting ends 12of the plates are provided dowel pins 13 and appropriate recesses, andalso clampingscrews 1e, by which the plates may be drawn together'.

Mounted on the faces of the plates which are to lie in opposed relationwhen the plates are in use, are projections 15 which may be of the samematerial as the plates. These projections correspond in shape andlocation to certain areas in the pattern, and the face of eachprojection is covered with a yielding surface 16, which may be made ofsoft rubber or other similar' material of that character. The plates areso formed that when placed in opposed relation the proj ections on oneplate will register with those on the other, and when a piece of mesh 11is placed in position between the plates and the two drawn together byclamping screws, the dowel pins insure that the projections will lie inexact registry. The clamping de vices are drawn up until the links 17,which lie within the areas of the opposite diamond shaped projectionsenter the soft yielding surfaces in such manner that the links arecompletely shielded and protected and the solution in which the mesh islater to be iinmersed cannot attack these links, This is shown moreclearly in F ig. 5, where the rough surface of the piece of fabric dueto the manner in which it is formed with the links of succeeding rowslying in planes inclined in opposite directions, necessitates the use ofthese yielding surfaces in order that the links of the fabric may beentirely shielded or masked. lt will be seen from Fig. y5 that the linkswhich lie in successive rows, as 17 and 18, are inclined in oppositedirections, and the projecting edges of these links enter deeply intothe yielding surface of the rubber as at 19. llhe rubber clamps thelinks tightly around the edges of the area. and thus all of the linkswithin the area are shielded and protected.

Fig. e shows a piece of Vring mesh fabric drawn on an enlarged scale,and illustrates the manner in which each link in the fabric isintermeshed with a plurality of other links. The diamond shaped area 2Oin Fig. 4 is one of those areas throughout which the links are `shieldedby the projections on the plate. All of the links within this area aregripped between the yielding surfaces and thus masked.

When the piece of mesh has thus been placed Vin position between theplates, and the latter clamped together, the piece. of mesh and theplates are immersed in a solution which gives the exposed links thecolor to appear in the field. There are numerous solutions which may beemployed for this purpose, and the choice of solutions will depend onthe color to be produced and the kind of metal of which the links aremade.

he piece of mesh, parts of which are masked by the projections on theplates, is immersed in the solution a sufficient length time so that allof the exposed links are evenly colored; then the plates with the meshbetween them, are removed and traces of the solution washed from themesh, and the mesh, after drying, is ready for use for commercialpurposes. It will be seen that in carrying out the process thusdescribed, the links in the diamond shaped areas 21 arranged in threerows, will retain the original color of the metal of which-the links aremade, as, for instance, silver. All of the remaining links in the meshnot within these areas are then given a surface color which depends onthe solution which has been used. ln the finished product, therefore,the mesh has a pattern which comprises a plurality of diamond shapedareas of silver color placed in rows on a field of some other color. n

in the event that reverse color scheme is to be employed; that is, thepiece of mesh is to have colored areas of dian'iond shape upon a fieldwhich has the color of the metal of which the links are made, then apair of plates is used which may be said to be complementary to theplates here illustrated. i he plates will now be so formed that only thediamond shaped areas 21 are exposed, all of the remaining links in thepiece of mesh being' masked by means of projections which have yieldinglsurfaces closely engaging and shielding the links. lllhen a piece ofmesh mounted in such a pair of plates is immersed in the solution, thediamond shaped areas alone will be given the new color, while all theother links will retain the original color of the metal.

ln another application of the invent-ion, it is possible to produce apiece of mesh in which there is a pattern consisting of areas of onecolor, appearing in a field of a different color, both of these colorsbeing different from the color of the metal of which the links areformed. In such a process the entire piece of mesh is immersed in asolution which produces a color on the links corresponding to certainareas in the pattern. rllhereafter, the areas which are to have thiscolor are'masked by the use of plates with projections which correspondin position and shape to the areas in the pattern of this color. Thecolored mesh clamped between plates of appropriate form, is now immersedin a second solution, and all of the links of the piece of mesh whichare exposed are now attacked by the second solution and the color ofthese links is modied. The second solution may serve to remove the rrnii color first applied, it may remove this color and apply a second inits place, or it may apply a second color over the first, so that thefinished mesh Will have certain areas of a compound color.

In the event that a patterned mesh is to be made in which the designinvolves the use of more than two colors, the process is similar to thatabove described, but involves the use of tivo sets of plates and thetreatment of the mesh by a series of solutions, each of Which gives thelinks the appropriate color. As these solutions are applied and thelinks given different colors successively, those areas in which the newcolors are to be retained are shielded against the action of thesolutions which are to be used thereafter. The process is the saine,therefore, as the one previously described, but simply involves aduplication of certain of the steps.

It will be observed that the new process is simple and may be carried onWithout expensive apparatus. The finished product is similar inappearance to mesh produced on multi-colored machine, but is made oflinks, all of which are of the same kind of Wire. Only the surfaceappearance of the links is altered in producing the pattern, and thus itis possible to produce a patterned mesh made of links of a metal whichmay be of much loiver cost than some of the metals which are necessarilyemployed to produce the colored eifect in the patterned mesh as made bythe prior processes. The invent-ion, therefore, comprises a process ofproducing a rough patterned fabric, such as metallic mesh, by immersionof the fabric in suitable solutions While areas of the fabric which arenot to be colored by the action of the solutions are stopped ofi' ormasked against t-he action of these solutions.

I claim:

l. A method of forming a design in color ou metallic mesh fabric whichcomprises applying a color to the fabric, shelding` areas in the coloredfabric in accordance with a selected design, and then modifying thecolor of the links outside of the said areas.

2. A method of forming a design in color on metallic mesh fabric Whichcomprises iminersing the fabric in a solution to give all the links acolor appearing in certain parts of the design, shielding the links inthe areas which are to have the said color, and then immersing thefabric with the said links thus shielded in a solution 'which gives theunshielded links a color appearing elsewhere in the design.

3. A method of forming a design in color on metallic mesh fabric whichcomprises applying to all the mesh a color `which is to appear incertain parts of the design, shielding the links in the mesh Which aretohave the Said color, and then immersing the fabric with the links soshielded in a solution which applies a second color over the first coloron the links Unshielded.

41. A device for use in forming a design in color on metallic mesh whichcomprises a pair of similar plates, projections extending from one faceof each plate, these projections being formed and `arranged tocorrespond with certain areas in the design which are to be of the samecolor, means carried by the plates for holding them together with theprojections in registry, and yielding surfaces carried by the opposedfaces of the projections.

5. A device for use in forming a design in color on metallic mesh whichcomprises a pair of similar plat-es of inert material, projectionsextending from one face of each plate, these projections being formedand arranged to correspond with certain areas in the design which are tobe of the same color, surface layers of soft rubber carried by theopposed faces of the projections, and means carried by the plates forholding'them together With al piece of mesh lying between them, certainof the links of the piece of mesh being gripped and masked by therubbei' surfaces on the projections.

In testimony whereof affix my signature.

RICHARD HATLEY BERKLEY.

